Introducing Elder Leone Neville as the 2026 National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother

FIRST PERMANENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS – UPDATE

Presenting our first permanent Board of Directors:
‍Throughout 2020, based on the recommendations in the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation Survivor Engagement Report, we recruited the first permanent Survivor-led Board of Directors for the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation. Our first official Board of Directors represent compassion, strength, unity and healing.

November 12, 2020 Virtual Event
‍Official Launch of the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation and Board of Directors Announcement. Captions in French and English will be provided in the future, but for now, the video is available for viewing in its entirety.

Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
Minister Bennett shares remarks on the new permanent Board Members of the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation and their vital work to address the legacy of the Sixties Scoop.

Ontario Akwesasne, September 24, 2026

The National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada is honoured to recognize Elder Leone Neville as the National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother. An honorary distinction grounded in lived experience, cultural leadership, and a lifelong commitment to family and community.

NSSHFC Board Chair, Shirley Cardinal and 2026 National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother, Leone Neville

Photo credit: Leone Neville

An Honour Rooted in Lived Experience

The National Sixties Scoop Mother designation honours mothers whose children were taken from them by the state during the Sixties Scoop era. As part of the Foundation’s Elder’s Circle, those who hold this title may be called upon to offer prayer, cultural and spiritual guidance, and wisdom rooted in their experiences of loss, survival, healing, and reconnection. The honour reflects the Foundation’s commitment to centering the voices of mothers in Survivor-led healing and reconciliation.

(Top to bottom/left to right: Elder Assistant Marliyn Osecap, Guest Donna Garnons-Williams, 2025 National Sixties Scoop First Nations Mother, Elder Philomene Sanderson and 2026 National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother Elder Leone Neville)

Photo credit: Leone Neville

(left to right: 2026 National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother, Elder Leone Neville and 2025 National Sixties Scoop, First Nations Mother, Elder Philmoene Sanderson)

Photo credit: Wayne Garnons-Williams

A Story of Loss, Love, and Reconnection
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Elder Neville is a Métis Elder from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Like too many Indigenous mothers, she experienced the profound loss of having her baby taken by the state without her consent. For more than 50 years, she carried that separation while continuing to build a life centred on care, family, and service. In April 2025, the daughter she raised with her husband helped locate Elder Neville’s long-lost son. In August 2025, the Foundation helped arrange and film their first reconnection in more than five decades. A powerful moment of truth, love, and healing.

(Julie, Brady, Tina, Terry, Glen, Métis Elder Leone Neville, Board Member Ian Card and Glen Neville)

(Top to bottom/left to right: Glen, Julie, Brady, Tina, Board Member Ian Card, Elder Leone Neville, Glen Neville and Terry)

Photo credit: Wayne Garnons-Williams

A Lifetime of Caring for Children and Community

A retired social worker, Elder Neville has devoted her life to supporting others. She and her husband fostered 32 young people, many of whom continue to regard them as family. In 1991, she received a special commendation from the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs for her outstanding work as a Métis foster parent for providing young people with stability, love, and a place to belong.

(Métis Elder Leone Neville & her husband and Glen Neville)

Photo credit Leone Neville

Her leadership continues across the Métis community. Since 2021, Elder Neville has served with the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan Board of Elders and in Métis National Legislative Assembly gatherings. In 2024, she was recognized as an Elder of the Battlefords Indian & Métis Friendship Centre. In 2025, she and her husband were honoured as Elders of Batoche during the Back to Batoche cultural celebration, one of the highest distinctions for Métis people in Saskatchewan.

(Elder Nevile at the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly)

Photo credit: Leone Neville

(Elder Neville, Glen McCallum President, Metis Nation of Saskatchewan and Elder Philomene Sanderson)

Photo credit: Wayne Garnons-Williams

Welcoming a National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother

In recognizing Elder Leone Neville as the 2026 National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother, the Foundation honours not only her personal journey, but also the essential place of mothers and matriarchs in healing, cultural continuity, and Indigenous governance. Her wisdom, compassion, and lived experience will strengthen the Elder’s Circle and help guide the Foundation’s work with Survivors, families, lineages, and communities.
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(NSSHFC CEO, Wayne Garnons-Williams, and Board Member, Chris Wagg presenting a gift to Métis Elder Neville)

The National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada is grateful to welcome Elder Leone Neville as the National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother into this honoured role and to walk alongside her as we continue the work of truth, healing, and reconciliation.

NSSHFC Board Chair, Shirley Cardinal and 2026 National Sixties Scoop Métis Mother, Leone Neville

Photo credit: Wayne Garnons-Williams

For more information on the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada, please visit our website here: https://www.sixtiesscoophealingfoundation.ca/